File fastener



March 28, 1944.. E. E. KRuMwlEDE n 2,345,484

FILE FASTENER Filed July 25, 1942 Patented Mar. 28, 1944 UNITED STAT-ES PATENT OFFICE FILE FASTENER Elmer E. Krumwiede, Park Ridge, lll.

Application July v25, 1942, Serial No. 452,279

2 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of making and using le fasteners of the class embodying a base and flexible tongues extending from each end of the base adapted to be passed through perforations in a margin `of a file of papers or the like to hold the papers together. the ends of the tongues Abeing then bent down into a plane substantially parallel with the sheets and releasably secured in such position to retain the fastener and file of papers together until it is desired to lopen or remove the fastener for withdrawing a sheet or sheets from the file, or, conversely, adding to it.

Such fasteners have heretofore commonly been made of metal or have been made in two parts, an additional partl being considered necessary to `act as a keeper forholding down the ends of the tongues. The accumulation of -such metal or two-,part fasteners in a vfiling system has meant the building up of objectionable bulk and weight at the file margins, requiring enhancingly heavier and roomier le containers such as drawers, cabinets or the like.

The present invention, among other objects, aims to provide a file vfastener of this general type which may 'be formed of asingle piece of preferably non-metallic `liber material provided with integral means for Aretaining the ends of the tongues -releasably in position substantially in theplane of the sheets which the file -cornprises, thus materially Avreducing the cost of such fasteners `While simplifying YAtheir Yoperation and effecting ymarked savings vnot only in the cost of manufacture zbut-also in critical materials and in the weight and capacity of the -le vcontainers required.

Another object of thefpresent invention is the provision of 4an improved method of usingsuch fasteners to make upa `le of -papers or the like with enhanced rapidity and expedition, `thus conserving Vthe time and labor of an oflioe staff in .the handling of such-files.

These and other objects and advantages will be apparent 4and Vthe invention'will be readily understood `from the following detail description, taken together with the vaccompanying drawing showing anWembodiment-'of the inven- `tion as made and as used, theinventionbeing inclusive of both article and method.`

In the drawng- Figure 1 is a'perspective view illustrating' my present .invention in an intermediate step in its use with a iile of paper sheets or the like;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken with the invention associated therewith, yin normal condition;

Figure 3 is a perspective development view of a fastener of -my invention itself;

Figure 4 is a plan view showing a somewhat modified use of the invention; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal .crosssectional View of a further modification.

Referring yto the illustrative drawing, in detail, I have indicated my improved fastener generally by the numeral I0 which desirably comprises a base element I I and 'tongues I2 and I3, the whole being elongated .in the 'direction of its longitudinal axis I 4 and desirably stamped out integrally, or -otherwise rapidly formed, from a plate-like iiexible material lsuch as light fibreboard which is capable of being bent right-angularly many times without split ting or cracking. In practice, the tongues I2 and I3 are first bent upwardly at Vright-angles to the base Il, as at 'I la, adjacent where they join the base, and then paper sheets I5, having perforations I6 and I'I therein, .equally spaced .apart along one margin thereof, are placed thereon, with the tongues .'I2 and ;I3 extending upwardly through the perforations |16 `and I.'I respectively. As is well known in .the art, the sheets l5 may be letters, catalogue pages, price lists, account leaves, or othersheets which .are desired to be retained together .in `a single `Luseful file with say the oldest .sheet next to Ithe base member l I `of the fastener, and each succeeding sheet I5 as it is `added taking its 4place upon the tongues I2 and I3 as Athe sheet then uppermost. A suitable punch, which need `not be here described, may be provided for the punching of the perforationsV I6 and Il if -the sheets I5 do not come already so perforated.

Further, in practice, the tongues I2 and I3 are again bent at right-angles in the plane of the uppermost sheet I5 and are Ydisposed lto -lie substantially parallel with the sheets. `Thus the file I8 as a whole comprises `the sheets I5 and fastener Il).

In accordance with the present invention, the tongues I2 and I3 themselves carry lmea-ns for releasably retaining the tongues in position parallel with the sheets I5 so as to make the file `I-8 comprising the sheetsand fastenenan integrated unit which may be readily handledin the manner of a book, with the fastener constituting the binding means and the sheets "I5 being openable from their margins opposite `tothe fastener "for examination, perusual, or entry of account or on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 but showing the file, 66 Iother data.

In this instance to provide such self-carrying means, I have shown the tongues I2 and I3 each faced as at I9 with a coating of adhesive upon their faces which lie uppermost when the base member is in position as shown in Fig. 3 and ready to have vthe tongues l2 and I3 bent upwardly at right-angle to have placed thereon the sheets I5. The adhesive coating I9 is of a material which is -well known to the art and available upon the market, and it is suiicient here to say that Iit is a somewhat tacky, non-drying substance, which is impervious to water and may be used without moistening, b-eing energizable by pressure on the opposite face of the tongue, but which nevertheless is readily releasable `bylthe use of sufcient force to overcome its inherent holding power while at the same time the adhesive will remain upon the tongues, beingdesirably of a character which has greater afinity for the. surface of the tongue than for the surface upon which it is pressed. Y

A material which is suitable for the facing I9 is one known as Scotch drafting tape and is readily purchasable upon the market under this name. The facing I9 in such instance may, as shown in Figure 5, include a carrier layer ZIJ between the adhesive vand the tongue I2 or I3 as the case may be, the carrier layer2 alsobeing serviceably of a flexible, fibrous material and itself permanently adhered to the tongue I2 or I3 as by a suitable fast-holding glue as indicated at I9a of, say, a resinous character, or other appropriate securing means. The carrier'layer 2li may be impregnated with a suitable adhesive which will cause it to adhere to the surface of the tongue I2 and which will adhere the coating ib thereto, such coating having advantageously a rubber constituent, somewhat as in rubber cement. To aid in releasing a tongue from say a sheet I5, the carrier layer 20 and consequently the coating ISD may be given a somewhat crinkled character as vby the rugosities 2| therein.

thereto by the adhesive I9, and then the tongue i I3, which is shown upright in Fig. 1, may be bent down also parallel with the sheets I5 but superposed upon the already bent tongue I2, the adhesive I9 upon the now under face of the tongue I3 releasably adhering'this tongue to the other tongue I2. As an alternative, and as shown in Fig. 4, the tongue I2 may be bent parallel with the sheets I5 but somewhat at an angle with respect to the principal axis IA of the fastener, this being permitted by the flexibility of the material of the fastener, and the tongue I3 may also be bent somewhat at an angle with respect to the principal axis I4 but in the opposite direction from the tongue I2, so that both may lie side by side in the same plane upon the surface of the uppermost sheet I5 and parallel therewith.

When, now, it is desired Yto withdraw a sheet or sheets from the file I8, for example, or to add another sheet or sheets to the le, the tongues are grasped, say at their'tips, and are pulled up to the vertical position, as that shown occupied by the tongue I3 in Fig. 1, at which time, both tongues being in this position, sheets may be readily added to or withdrawn from the file I. Thereupon, the tongues are again bent into the plane parallel with the sheets I5 and adhered to the uppermost sheet of the file, or one to the other, as already described.

It will be understood that as more sheetshl are added to the file I8, the file will become correspondingly thicker and that less of the tongues I2 and I3 will project above the file, as sheets are placed thereon. As this occurs, also, a less extent of the tongues will lie parallel with the sheets when the tongues are so bent, but itV has been found that, constructed and arranged as here disclosed, the tongues, if a suicient length thereof protrude to be bent over onto the sheets I5 any reasonable distance, will have suflicient holding power, by reason of the adhesive I9, to prevent accidental release of the tongues from the uppermost sheet of the le and to retain the tongues in such holding position until they are again manually released by being grasped at their extremities bythe fingers of the operator and pulled away from the uppermost sheet I5. Also, it will Ibe understood, that, as in common with file fasteners of this type, varying sizes of fasteners may be provided having their base member II say of equal length but having their tongue members I2 and I3 of varying lengths to accommodate les of varying thicknesses.

The tongues are desirable attenuated at their extremities, as in this instance by rounding, to

facilitate entering the tongues into the'perforations, and thus guiding the tongues.

Thus followingrmy inventiornl have disclosed a simple and economical file fastener of the class herein referred to and a rapid and economical method of making up files of correspondence or the like with the use thereof. Ihave found that repeated applications of the tongues so coated do not dissipate the adhesive or materially diminish their holding power, and consequentlyvthat le fasteners constructed in accordance with my invention may be opened or closed, as described, a large number of times without substantial deterioration of their effectiveness as fasteners. Furthermore, the fastener here disclosed may. be made so cheaply that it may be discarded after fewer operations than would be economical with say a metal fastener or one which is madeof two parts.

Having described my invention, I claim: i 1. As an article of manufacture, a one-piece file fastener of fibrous material comprising an elongated base portion, a pair of tongues reduced in width from the width of the base portionfextending respectively from opposite ends ofthe base portion, whereby shoulders are provided between the base portion and said tongues, and the tongues are adapted to be passed throughperforrations in paper sheets and then bent down thereon to hold the sheets together withr the: 'faces of the tongues which are uppermost when the tongues and base portion are in the fiat facing the sheets when the tongues are bent down, and integral means including a pressure energizable releasable adhesive coating carried on the faces of the tongues which are uppermost when the base portion and tongues are in the fiat for retaining the tongues in said bentdownposition on the sheets While permitting repeated removal therefrom Without marring'the sheet Vor dis'- sipating the adhesive, said base portion being without the adhesive coating andthe extremie ties of the tongues being attenuated for guiding the tongues. Y Y

2. The structure of claim 1 whereinthe coating is carried by an intermediate layer cf rugous material carried by 'each tongue. Y

.V ELMER E.'KRUMWIEDE. 

